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[House_of_Dexter]

I really like the mesh...great work...

[stevodevo]

Hey dude,
some nice mods you have going there.
I was wondering if you could tell me how you did the wiring for the power adapter for your GPS?
you said you fitted it to your oxford grips, but i dont want to have to buy a set of them.
You did say you eventually wired it straight to your fuse box? could you draw me a diagram as i'm a bit dense with electrics.
cheers man

stevo

[SANGER_A2]

Hey dude,
some nice mods you have going there.
I was wondering if you could tell me how you did the wiring for the power adapter for your GPS?
you said you fitted it to your oxford grips, but i dont want to have to buy a set of them.
You did say you eventually wired it straight to your fuse box? could you draw me a diagram as i'm a bit dense with electrics.
cheers man

stevo

I just used a multimeter to test the different connections in the fuse box until I found one that was on when the ignition was on and off when it was off. I used an additional inline fuse wired into the socket and grips as well though, just in case.

[stevodevo]

ok cool. i'll give that a bash. hopefully not literally...
>=o)
a pity the uk spec gpz doesnt have the accessory socket though.

[timmyboynorwich]

Sanger,

Regarding how you moved the reflector to the number plate light, I like what you've done with it there, but is that still enough to pass an MOT ? I wasn't sure if it had to be in a certain spot or not... Thanks for your help in advance

[SANGER_A2]

Sanger,

Regarding how you moved the reflector to the number plate light, I like what you've done with it there, but is that still enough to pass an MOT ? I wasn't sure if it had to be in a certain spot or not... Thanks for your help in advance

As far as I know it just has to be on the rear. It's just moved up a bit which provides better visability really! Mine passed it's MOT with it on anyway! All my mods on the first page were on the bike during it's last MOT and it passed. The only recent one I think might be iffy is the exhaust. It's loud but not as loud as some stock bikes (I hope).

[timmyboynorwich]

Ok awesome thanks mate


I want to do a few things to my GPZ, Its having new chain & sprockets, rear pads on Monday.


Then after that i'll be able to spend a little money on the bike Which is always good.

Im changing the rear sprocket nuts to coloured ones or maybe just silver (can't decide a better colour to change them to that mathes my bike), but not sure what size the nuts are and not sure if I should spend £15 on 6 nuts from M&P direct or find the same size nuts somewhere else!

Thought about getting an LED strip to go on the bottom of my number plate, but not sure how i'd fit it or if I want to drill into my number plate.

[SANGER_A2]

Thought about getting an LED strip to go on the bottom of my number plate, but not sure how i'd fit it or if I want to drill into my number plate.

Go for it! Number plates only cost 10-15 quid to replace!

Im changing the rear sprocket nuts to coloured ones or maybe just silver (can't decide a better colour to change them to that mathes my bike), but not sure what size the nuts are and not sure if I should spend £15 on 6 nuts from M&P direct or find the same size nuts somewhere else!

I'd check if you need a certain grade or strength of the bolts to hold a sprocket. You may need to match that if you buy them somewhere local and decent ones may be hard to find at a decent price! If M&P say they're safe then you can probably trust them.

[timmyboynorwich]

Yeah youre right there murray. I think if they are selling them then they would generally be safe, and for £15 they should be worth the money. Also if 1 nut breaks then I guess i'd still have like 5 others to fall back on .


I quite fancy some new bar ends like these

http://www.mandp.co.uk/productInfo.aspx?catRef=561853

I think they look really smart, I'd get chrome ones.

I heard something before that to get the original ones out you need air tools if they haven't already been taken out before. Also do you know what size diameter(?) the clip ons are? So I know which size to get.


Thanks alot for your help its much appreciated

[SANGER_A2]

Yeah youre right there murray. I think if they are selling them then they would generally be safe, and for £15 they should be worth the money. Also if 1 nut breaks then I guess i'd still have like 5 others to fall back on .


I quite fancy some new bar ends like these

http://www.mandp.co.uk/productInfo.aspx?catRef=561853

I think they look really smart, I'd get chrome ones.

I heard something before that to get the original ones out you need air tools if they haven't already been taken out before. Also do you know what size diameter(?) the clip ons are? So I know which size to get.


Thanks alot for your help its much appreciated

There are posts on here about removing them. You need to heat up the bar-ends first with a soldering iron or mini-blowtorch. Then an impact hammer is best. My dad has one but luckily someone had already taken them off before to install the heated grips on mine.

Those bar-ends look interesting. What are those things on the ends? They almost look like little lights! You wanna make sure that they are at least as heavy as the stock ones if not heavier or you'll get more vibration on the bars. Mine are steel and pretty bulky. Alloy or carbon firbre would make the bike worse to ride even if they look better.

[t0msmith]

Umm guys.....those MandP bar ends are pretty crappy. Trust me...I know from experience.  They are tiny and grip the bike by a turning the screw in which makes the rubber expand. They don't provide any vibration cancelling at all and won't protect the bike in a drop in the slightest.

[SANGER_A2]

Those bar ends are completely generic - designed for any bike with hollow bars. Buy some that say they are for Kawasaki and they will have a bolt that can go into the screw-hole that's already there and will be secure. I had to buy longer bolts than the ones that came with mine - but they felt a lot more secure with the longer ones in.

[Daekar]

Nice mod selection!  How hard was it to remove the stock rear footpegs to replace with the new shiny ones?  I have some that supposedly fit, but I'm not sure how to remove the pin that holds the OEM one on there.  Will I need another one of those little locking ring-things?  Or are they flexible enough to be pushed off and reused?

[SANGER_A2]

Nice mod selection!  How hard was it to remove the stock rear footpegs to replace with the new shiny ones?  I have some that supposedly fit, but I'm not sure how to remove the pin that holds the OEM one on there.  Will I need another one of those little locking ring-things?  Or are they flexible enough to be pushed off and reused?

I used a screwdriver and a pair of needle-nose pliers to get them off. You can reuse them - although a couple had to be squashed into shape again - but I bought some more from the Kawi dealer anyway as they were only about £2-3 for the lot!

[SANGER_A2]

Recently I did a week-long tour around the UK and I decided that shoving my GPS into the clear pocket of my tank bag wasn't good enough. It didn't protect it from the elements enough (especially in around 5-6 hours riding a day in unknown weather) and it was dangerous and difficult to look at. I decided I needed a mount to put the GPS somewhere safe and easy to see. Not on the handlebars or mounted on the tank either. My sat nav is just a cheap one and isn't waterproof etc. I bought it because it's easy to hack and mod (I've already installed a few different pieces of GPS software and added an optional extra battery) and because it plays music and video as well as telling you where to go! As the music player runs in the background while I'm navigating, I can listen to the the GOS instructions and the music at the same time using headphones. I ran a stereo extension plug down under the tank and cable-tied it to the frame near the petcock so I can easily plug and unplug my headphones in when getting on the bike. Works great!

I got the idea for the mount from the one that wvninja and posted a pic of here http://www.ex-500.com/index.php/topic,8400.0.html, I had a bit of flat steel stock I bought ages ago. I cut a strip about an inch wide and a foot long and then drilled a hole in one end to attach the existing GPS car mount section to. Then I just bent at various points as it fitted to get it to fit to the middle screw holding the plastic cover onto the dials. Finally I chopped off the end to make it quite a bit shorter and wrapped it in duct tape to stop it scratching up my windscreen and protect it a bit. I was going to paint it with some rust proof paint I had, but I couldn't be bothered to wait for it to dry. Because I have a tinted windscreen it's almost totally protected from the elements anyway.


The section of bent metal making up the mount and it attached to the existing GPS holder:-


The section of bent metal making up the mount and it attached to the existing GPS holder (another angle):-


The sat nav mounted on the bike:-


The sat nav music player (pretty cool):-


You can even use it to watch American Dad! (Not that I would ride riding of course - I'm not totally insane):-


The whole GPS mounting section just pops off easily when not needed and the dial's aren't covered:-

[SANGER_A2]

This is a quick summary of the mods I've added recently. I did the fog airbox mod and changed the pilot screws 2.5 turns out. Made a huge difference. Everyone always says this but I never believed them wholly till I tried it. The whole note of the engine is different and it's so much smoother at lower revs. Louder too now.

I took off, sanded (which took hours) and repainted my downpipes. They're damn rusty and the part where they connect underneath rusted away so I have holes. It makes it a lot louder but is too loud and also illegal. I'm going to get it welded up soon.

I ordered some generic Bike-it fork protectors like this and fitted them to protect the upper part of the forks as the lower was getting hit by stones etc so I reasoned the top must be too occasionally:-



My throttle cables snapped because of rust etc so I ordered and fitted new ones. The old ones look like they had never been lubed at all they were so rusty and manky! I lubed my clutch, choke and throttle cables with 90w engine oil using the plastic bag and gravity method and I'm going to do this every year on every bike I get from now on.

I fitted a fuel filter between the carbs when taking the bike to bits to do the FOG mod. It was too big and jammed up the carb mechanicals halfway down the M27 so I had to stop, take the bike to bits and replace the filter with the clear overfow pipe from between the carbs temporarily. I didn't bother refitting the filter when I got home! <-- I know this will probably make people shout at me, but I'm selling the bike in a month or so and can't be bothered to try and find a smalled filter that will fit and then go through the hassle of installing it.

One day on the way to work my dash lights and heated grips stopped working because the cable I shoved into the fuse box fell out. I wired my heated grips into the fuse box properly by ripping out the original spade connector and putting in a new one wired up properly. It's damn solid now and works fine. The best way to do it really would have been to use a relay wired to the ignition but I couldn't be bothered. I'll probably do it that way on the fazer I've ordered though. Just need to make sure it won't invalidate the warrantee.

After doing the fog mod, I decided my exhausts were too loud with the baffles partly removed and holes drilled. So I drilled the end caps off the headers and filled in the holes (except the main hole in the centre obviously) with cold weld. Put it all back together and it sounded much better. Still pretty loud though.

I had some scratches on my tank from my original tank bag (not the brilliant one from Lidl) and they had filled with black crap and looked awful. I spent ages cleaning them out with parraffin and used some magic polish stuff to fill the scratches in. It's not perfect but the scratches can now hardly be seen.

I got fed up with carrying a heavy tank bag around with me so I modified a vanity case from Ikea (about £6) to use as a seat cowl to put my wallet etc in as I don't need to carry much with me usually. I used a cheap luggage strap that goes underneath the passenger seat and connects using snap buckles to the underside of the case and made a strap that connects the handle to the grab rail for extra security. If anyone's really interested in it I'll post some pics. It looks pretty good as the case already looks pretty aerdynamically shaped.

I think that's all my mods up to date. I got a new (higher paying) job in September and have been too busy to properly document my mods really.

[mugwump]

How did I miss that GPS mod? I'd better just subscribe to this thread.

[SANGER_A2]

How did I miss that GPS mod? I'd better just subscribe to this thread.

Lol. Yeah that'd be best!

[frobotz]

How do you see the speedo and the tach. i know my GPS has speed adn its much more accurate than the EX. Is it just the angle of the pic?

[SANGER_A2]

How do you see the speedo and the tach. i know my GPS has speed adn its much more accurate than the EX. Is it just the angle of the pic?

I don't need to see the tach as I can feel & hear where I am after riding so many miles on my bike. It does cover the top cm or so but the GPS has speed on it. I've changed the angle now of the mount so it doesn't cover the gauges. It's only cos I have such a gigantic GPS really anyway! 

[njd2389]

Sanger, on the powerbronze website, it lists the flip windscreen as being available for the 94-03 models. Is this information just outdated? I have on 05 ex500 and am wondering if it'll fit my bike as well.

[SANGER_A2]

The EX hasn't changed except for paintwork since 1994. It'll fit. Not perfect, but that's just imperfect design. It's still definitely worth buying. Far better than stock. I'm trying to find a flip screen for my current bike cos I miss the one I had on my GPZ.

[Tartanmack]

First time poster on here and just had to say how much I enjoyed reading this thread, what I like about it is you are not afraid to say when something didn’t work as well as you wanted it to.

 Look forward (one day) to trying out some of these Mods myself.
Once again –thanks for such a interesting thread.

[SANGER_A2]

First time poster on here and just had to say how much I enjoyed reading this thread, what I like about it is you are not afraid to say when something didn’t work as well as you wanted it to.

 Look forward (one day) to trying out some of these Mods myself.
Once again –thanks for such a interesting thread.

Thanks very much mate. I hope it encourages you to experiment with your bike!